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What is Gamification?

what is gamification

Gamification is the process of using game elements into a non-game context. Many companies have used Gamification in company apps, community forums, websites, and more. The goal of Gamification is to engage and motivate players to achieve organizational goals. These goals are set up to align with business goals and values to help players best serve the larger community. 

Games, Gamification or Game Thinking

Gamification, also known as “Game Thinking” is more than just creating a game for recreation. While games should always be fun, Gamification creates business-oriented fun that applies gaming elements to existing practices, processes, and standards. These elements work together to offer visible paths of advancement and success. Whether companies apply Gamification to digital or non-digital products and organizations, it offers an easy way to motivate employees or players.  The end results are higher profitability, better customer and employee engagement and retention, as well as improved employee health and morale.

Gamification Elements

We know that Gamification elements motivate and engage players. Companies have experimented with ways to use these elements to achieve long-term goals for their bottom line.

But what are some of the Gamification elements you can use in your company?

Here are the most essential Gamification elements for motivating and engaging businesses: 

Points – Evidence of quantifiable behaviors

In games, the more points you have, the higher you rank on leaderboards. With Gamification, you award points to players when they complete quests or assignments, earn achievements, or show a record of encouraged behaviors including punctuality. Points offer immediate feedback and have a positive effect on the brain’s reward system. Gamification offers incentive to collect points by offering a means of tracking rewards, building a reputation, and inspiring achievement.

Badges – Proof of accomplishment

Many games use badges for visualization of achievement and successful completion of goals. Gamification uses badges to motivate employees to behave in certain ways. You can award badges for earning points, accomplishing specific goals, or to celebrate long-term engagement and loyalty. Employees can have profile pages to display their collected badges for a sense of pride as well as bragging rights with their fellow employees.

Levels – Status and mastery within the community

In games, levels are a way of qualifying experience and mastery. With Gamification, you can introduce levels as a way to show increased responsibility, privilege, and better titles. As employees level up, they become more valued and important members of the workforce. Who wouldn’t want that? Levels prove long-term achievements within a community and become status symbols that offer social influence. 

Leaderboards – Transparent player progression

Being on top or working towards the top motivates players. Leaderboards display relative progress against the competition. Leaderboards can be seen both in games and in sports, it’s one of the most common Gamification elements. 

Competition – Outperform and inspire to collaboration

Win a trophy or receive a participant badge. Reward the highest scorer and fuel the players to outperform. Competing individually as a player is rewarding, playing together as a team is a culture booster. Play against other teams or work against the clock!

Data visualization – Clear insights on goal progression

Showing metrics provides a clear insight into player strength and weakness. Displaying trends will encourage mastery and improvement since players take ownership of the data.

Events – Builds a cheerful culture

Real-time updates. Scores, badges, and competitions. Engaging interactivity boosts the will of improving own game activities. Creating a strive for next rewarding energizer. A great way of creating returning players.

Notifications – Direct feedback on game activities

Real-time updates. Scores, badges, and competitions. Engaging interactivity boosts the will of improving own game activities. Creating a strive for next rewarding energizer. A great way of creating returning players.

Quiz – Onboarding in an engaging environment

Onboarding newly recruits or boost team competence. Create quizzes to educate team players. Watch a video, answer an open question or make a multiple choice.

Survey – Sharing and enhancing the environment

Create recurring surveys to check the team pulse or get feedback on business improvements.

The community – Creating a purpose and socializing

The community creates a greater purpose for all other elements. A place where teams and players can interact and share happenings while boosting the community. It’s where the player acquires the game purpose and all available playable paths.  

About Pointagram - The gamification tool for everyone!

Pointagram offers a fast and simple way to start gamifying your employees. Pointagram is the best “do it yourself” gamification software out there because it leverages the best in “click and go” software. You will be able to build an easy game offering a friendly competition or a whole career ladder experience for your employees. Pointagram is the gamification tool of your choice. Did we mention that there is a generous free account? Start elaborating today.

Read more about Pointagram and why it’s the perfect solution for you. 

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Pointagram

Empowering leaders to motivate and engage their teams for success through gamification